92

81

FINAL

Summer League: Spurs 92, Lakers 81

Posted Tuesday July 17, 2012 8:51PM

Kawhi Leonard scored 27 points as the San Antonio Spurs downed the Los Angeles Lakers 92-81 in the fifth day of action at the 2012 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. Leonard's effort was complimented by an 18-point outing from Cory Joseph and 13 points from James Anderson.

Coming off of a 50-point loss last night, the Lakers charged out of the locker room and to an early 8-2 lead at just before the six-minute mark in the first quarter. The Spurs weathered the attack, though, mounting a comeback by way of an 11-4 run to take a 15-14 advantage with just over a minute to play in the first. The teams traded buckets to end the quarter and the Spurs took a one-point advantage, 19-18 into the second period.

The Spurs opened the game up in the second quarter, going on a 9-2 run to bring the score to 37-28 with 1:38 to play in the half. The Spurs outscored the Lakers 24-17 in the second period and took a 43-35 advantage into the halftime break. Kawhi Leonard led the charge for San Antonio in the first half scoring 18 points on six-of-11 from the field and five-of-six from the charity stripe. Darius Morris scored 12 in the first half for the Lakers.

The Lakers, who had trailed by as many as 16 points in the game, chipped away in the third quarter, cutting the lead to under ten, 62-71, on a Christian Eyenga and-one bucket from his hip with one second to play in the third. Morris contributed with 12 points in the third.

Los Angeles rallied in the fourth quarter, closing the gap to as few as six points, 79-88, with two minutes to play in the game. But San Antonio's Luke Zeller answered back with a deep three from the corner to bring the lead back to nine. The teams traded baskets as the clock wound down.

The Lakers' attack was led by Morris, who finished with 24 points in the contest despite not scoring in the fourth quarter. Robert Sacre added 14 points in the loss.

San Antonio returns to action tomorrow when the team takes on the Los Angeles Clippers at 7 p.m. PT, while the Lakers face the Clippers on Thursday, July 19 at 5:30 p.m. PT.